Teenage Queerness: Negotiating Heteronormativity in the Representation of Gay Teenagers in "Glee"

Dhaenens, Frederik

Journal of Youth Studies, v16 n3 p304-317 2013

Despite a significant increase in gay representation in contemporary television fiction, many media scholars argue that the representation of gay men and women is governed by heteronormativity. They postulate that even rounded and heterogeneous representations of gay men and women are characters that desire to participate in institutions, practices, norms, and values that consolidate the heterosexual matrix. Yet, within a cultural studies tradition, television is considered an ambiguous medium that is able to both consent to and contest normative assumptions about sexuality. Taking into account this ambivalence, the study is interested in how popular teen television portrays gay teenagers and to what extent it negotiates heteronormativity in its representation of gay youth. As the objective is an in-depth investigation of representational strategies, the study examines one teen series that is authoritative in its representation of gay teens, namely the American musical series "Glee." By means of a qualitative textual analysis, the article demonstrates that "Glee" represents gay youth as suffering victims or as teens aspiring to heteronormative values. On the other hand, "Glee" also provides counter-narratives in which gay teens are represented as happy, self-confident, and able to position themselves beyond the boundaries of the heterosexual matrix. (Contains 4 notes.)